DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Reduces Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lowered its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 60.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 76,768 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings in Graco were worth $4,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,141,579 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,444,864,000 after acquiring an additional 183,335 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,229,385 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $356,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,093 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,836,000 after purchasing an additional 76,184 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,328,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $196,242,000 after buying an additional 337,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $177,434,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of GGG opened at $83.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.06 and a 52 week high of $92.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.58 and a 200-day moving average of $84.43.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Graco Company Profile

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The Contractor segment offers sprayers to apply paint to walls and other structures; two-component proportioning systems that are used to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; and viscous coatings to roofs, as well as markings on roads, parking lots, athletic fields, and floors.